Conceptualising pedagogical designs for learning through object-oriented collaboration in higher education

ABSTRACT

This paper elaborates on the notion of object-oriented collaborative learning by building on empirical material from two case studies in higher education. Prior empirical findings show how knowledge objects are evolving entities, shaped by the interactions between participants, and how students learn from engaging in knowledge practice that involves different activities with knowledge objects. However, the pedagogy of teaching and learning with objects needs to be further explored and grounded in empirical data. Using two case studies, we examine how learning designs in higher education courses support students’ learning through work on shared knowledge objects, as well as how students experience these designs and the learning process. By means of complementary datasets, the learning design, enacted teaching practices, collaboration processes, experiences, and competence learned are mapped and analysed. The findings are helpful in elucidating the learning taking place through interaction and practices mediated by shared knowledge objects, as well as informing the development of principles of a pedagogy of object-oriented collaborative learning, which provide practical recommendations and invite further research endeavours.

KEYWORDS:

• Object-oriented collaboration
• higher education
• learning design
• knowledge creation
• student learning

Acknowledgments

We thank the participating students and teachers in both countries, as well as colleagues who contributed to the data collection in the projects this study is connected to. The studies presented in this article were conducted within the project Horizontal Governance and Learning Dynamics in Higher Education (HORIZON) supported by funding from the Research Council of Norway, KNORK supported by a European Commission grant, and ARONI supported by the Academy of Finland.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. QNHE – Quality in the Norwegian Higher Education: Pathways, Practices and Performances.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Academy of Finland [ARONI 285806]; European Commission [KNORK 402765 543154-LLP-1-2013-1-FI-KA3-KA]; Norges Forskningsråd [HORIZON 212285].

Notes on contributors

Crina Damsa

Crina Damsa is associate professor at the Department of Education, University of Oslo, Norway. Her research focuses on student learning in networked environments, collaborative learning, learning design and methodologies employing an ecological perspective on learning.

Hanni Muukkonen

Hanni Muukkonen is a professor in Educational Psychology at the Faculty of Education, University of Oulu, Finland. Her current research focuses on collaborative learning, knowledge creation, learning analytics, and technology in education.